Trouble
by Lily II
Summary: I was always getting into trouble of one sort or another. But this time, it was worse than any other situation I had ever been in. At least, that's what it felt like. And, for a wonder, it wasn't Malfoy's fault. (Originally a oneshot, now being continued) ON HIATUS Will be continued middle of March
1. Chapter 1

**Trouble**

I stared out the window at the rain pouring down outside, the weather echoing my gloomy mood. I was always getting into trouble of some sort or another—I assumed it was the combination of my mother's cleverness and the Weasley love of fun—but I had never been stuck in a situation this bad before. I had no clue what I was supposed to do. The only person who could help me out of this mess was likewise the only person at Hogwarts that I would normally never dream of asking for help. But I couldn't see any other way out. As I contemplated the situation, I thought back to how I had gotten into it in the first place.

* * *

It had all started yesterday, in the Great Hall at breakfast. I was sitting at the Ravenclaw table, talking with my best friend Isobel Stewart, when Stephanie Cauldwell slipped into the seat opposite me. Stephanie is one of the most annoying people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. The two of us had a fight in first year, and have been antagonistic towards each other ever since. So when she came and sat down opposite me, I wasn't exactly overjoyed. Then she started talking. She's always saying things that sound perfectly normal, but are nasty underneath. Today was no different.

"So, Rose, who are you going into Hogsmeade with next week?"

Normally when she starts talking I just roll my eyes and try to ignore her. But today I was too tired to care. I'm not exactly a morning person. I vaguely waved my hand in the direction of the door. I had heard her say something about going somewhere, and hoped that that would answer her question. She turned and stared over my shoulder. Then she turned around again, a look of amazement on her face.

"You're going to Hogsmeade with _Malfoy_?"

"Mmm," I responded, and picked up my fork to continue eating. Suddenly my brain registered what she had said. Going to Hogsmeade? Malfoy? I looked up. He had just sat down at the Slytherin table—he must have been walking in the door just as I vaguely motioned in that direction. Oh Merlin. Now what was I going to do?

Malfoy and I have never been friends—not since he laughed at me in first year for falling off my broom in our first flying lesson. I've never been very good at flying. I'm all Granger in that respect. But my temper is all Weasley—I got detention for the way I yelled at Malfoy after he laughed at me. We've been on the worst of terms ever since.

And now, I had just told Stephanie Cauldwell—one of the worst gossips at Hogwarts, nonetheless—that I was going to Hogsmeade with him. There was only one thing I could do about it: go and confess to Malfoy before Stephanie spread it around the school. I was surprised that Malfoy hadn't already heard of it. But since he hadn't, I got to be the one to tell him. How exciting.

I sighed, closed the window curtains, and headed downstairs to the common-room, where I entered into a discussion with Lorcan Scamander, my best friend, about the merits or otherwise of the Hampstead Hornets. He thought they were amazing, while I absolutely knew that they sucked (Seriously! The only team out there worse than them are the Chudley Cannons!). At least it put my most recent mess-up out of my head for a while.

* * *

The next afternoon, I headed down to lunch with a do-or-die expression on my face. I had a free period directly afterwards, and I knew, from certain past encounters that would take too long to repeat here, that Malfoy also did. So I was planning to confront him, tell him about the stupid mistake I'd made this time, and ask for his help. That was going to be fun.

I didn't manage to eat much during lunch, not compared to my usual enormous appetite. When the remains of food had vanished, I walked outside to where I had seen Malfoy go just minutes earlier. It took me about five tries to actually walk up to him. There was a reason I hadn't been put in Gryffindor.

Finally I managed to stammer out: "Er…Malfoy? Could I…um…talk to you? Privately," I added, glancing at his friends. He raised an eyebrow sceptically, but followed me over to a deserted part of the courtyard.

"What do you want, Weasley?"

"I'm in a bit of a predicament and I—I need your help."

"Let me get this straight. You, Rose Weasley, are asking me, Scorpius Malfoy, for _help_."

"Er, yes, that's about it," I mumbled.

"So what is it you need my help with, Weasley? Your homework?", he inquired sarcastically.

I glared at him. "I am a Ravenclaw, you know. But if you ever need any help with your homework"—I had momentarily forgotten what I needed and had slipped into our usual banter— "do be sure to let me know." Then I remembered why I had voluntarily started a conversation with Malfoy in the first place. I groaned inwardly, took a deep breath, and said determinedly: "No, actually, I need you to go to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday."

He definitely hadn't been expecting that. "You what?"

"Need you to go to Hogsmeade with me next Saturday."

He looked shocked. "Why?"

I explained. When I had finished, he said: "So, basically, you want me to save you from being a laughingstock and being unmercifully teased."

"That's about it."

"And why, Weasley, do you think that I would want to prevent that?"

"Good point." I was silent for a bit. "Um…because I'll give you a Galleon if you do?"

He scoffed. "Malfoys don't take bribes."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Really? I've heard differently." I sighed. "So are you going to help me out or not? Hurry up and decide, I haven't got all day."

He eyed me for a minute. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said: "I suppose. No reason why I shouldn't. And now that I come to think of it, Weasley, your hair isn't quite as awful as it used to be. And you do have nice eyes."

I half smiled as he walked away from me. Maybe this date wasn't going to be so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: *trumpet blast* I have finally gotten around to deciding to continue this story!**

**I must warn you all, I won't be writing unless I have ideas, and my other story (feel free to check it out) will be top priority, but now that I've actually written chapter 2 I'll be more motivated to write the rest of them.**

**And reviews would definitely help motivate me :-)**

**I want to dedicate this chapter to the wonderful people out there who asked me to continue this story. Without you, well, I probably wouldn't have. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

I didn't see Malfoy again until that evening at dinner. He came strolling in to the Great Hall, surrounded by his usual group of friends. I was sitting at the end of the table nearest the doors, talking to Isobel about the Transfiguration homework, when he walked past between our table and the Slytherin one. His laughter caught my attention, and as I looked up, he glanced in my direction. He gave me a considering look for a moment, and then, to my great surprise, _winked_ at me before turning back to his friends. I started to smile before I remembered it was Malfoy.

Isobel looked at me with a confused look on her face.

"Rose? What was that all about?"

I sighed. "Nothing, really."

"That didn't look like nothing to me."

"Remember how I accidentally told Stephanie yesterday that I'm going into Hogsmeade with Malfoy?"

Isobel chuckled. "The look on your face when you realised what you'd said was priceless."

"Anyway," I said, slightly annoyed, "I confronted him after lunch and he agreed."

Isobel spluttered. I pulled out my wand and cleaned the pumpkin juice off my plate as she stared at me.

"He what?"

"Agreed."

"I heard you the first time. You mean you're actually going to Hogsmeade with him?"

"No," I said sarcastically, "I mean he agreed to lend me his Potions notes. Yes, I am. Wish me luck."

"You'll need it," Isobel muttered, turning back to her apple pie. She opened her mouth to say more, but suddenly seemed to be distracted by something on the other side of the Hall.

I followed her gaze to the Gryffindor table, where the only thing I could see that might have caught her attention was my cousin Al horsing around with Lysander, our fellow fifth year, Lorcan's twin and a Gryffindor like Al.

And like everyone else in the Weasley-Potter clan but yours truly. Well, and Victoire, who had been a Hufflepuff. But she was so much like Aunt Fleur that I always had a hard time remembering to include her in the list of Weasleys.

"Why are you staring at Al?" I asked, puzzled. It wasn't like he and Lysander didn't act stupid every day.

"I wasn't actually looking at Al…" Isobel muttered.

"Alright then, why are you looking at Lysander?"

Isobel said something I didn't quite catch. But I already had my own suspicions.

"You like him, don't you?"

"I…of course not."

"Isobel dearest, you stopped talking to watch him, you turned pink when I mentioned it, and come to think of it, you've been rather distant lately in all the lessons we share with Gryffindor. And you're not listening to anything I'm saying now, either, are you? Let's see how long I can talk before you notice. There's a Hippogriff rampaging on the staff table. James is busy kissing his girlfrie…oh wait, he really is, so that won't make you notice anything. McGonagall just said we don't have homework for the rest of the month. The Chudley Cannons beat Puddlemere United last week."

That snapped her out of her reverie.

"No way did they do that! The Chudley Cannons suck, everyone but your little brother Hugo knows that."

"Glad to see you're in the real world again, Is."

"How many times have I told you, don't call me that."

"I won't if you tell me what's going on between you and Lysander."

Isobel sighed and turned to look at me.

"Nothing's going on between the two of us. I just happen to…like him, that's all."

I grinned. "I knew it!"

We were interrupted by Stephanie—again. Why can't she leave us alone for once? She's been tormenting me for four and a half years now, you'd think she'd have found something else to do with her free time. She sat herself down opposite me, followed by her friend Michelle Davies. Michelle's not as annoying a Stephanie, but since she follows her around and does whatever her friend does, she's definitely not on my list of people I'm friends with.

The two of them slid onto the bench on the other side of the table. Stephanie whispered something to Michelle, who laughed. Then Michelle leaned over to me and said: "So I heard you're going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy."

I took a deep breath.

"As a matter of fact…"

I could see Stephanie watching me.

"…I am," I concluded.

The expressions on their faces were hilarious. Stephanie was really surprised. I wouldn't wonder if she'd already been planning all the ways she would tease me about it when she found out it wasn't true. Except that now, it was.

"You're what?" Michelle asked.

"Going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy," I said slowly, with the air of someone explaining something to a two-year-old.

Michelle looked at me again, and then turned and started a whispered conversation with Stephanie. I could totally tell that they didn't believe me.

"Come on, Is, let's go back to the common room. I have some homework I need to finish."

"I keep telling you, don't call me that!"

I walked out of the Great Hall, followed by Isobel. It was all I could do to hold in my laughter until I was out of earshot. Then I burst out into giggles.

"Did you see their faces? When I told them I was actually going with Malfoy?"

"Well, that would have been because it is slightly unbelievable…"

"I'm with you on that one," I sighed. "But it's not really a date, I'm just taking the easy way out. I just hope he doesn't find it horrendously funny to stand me up or something."

"Why would he? He agreed to go with you, didn't he?"

"In case you haven't noticed, Isobel, Malfoy and I have a rather long history of not getting along."

"That's an understatement," she muttered.

"Precisely. In fact, you could say our families have a history of not getting along well."

"I just hope you survive Saturday."

"Believe me, Is, I hope so too. But it's only the one morning."

"You sure?" Isobel had an impish look on her face.

"What? Merlin, Isobel, as if I would ever consider going out with him for any other reason! No way in a million years."

Isobel muttered something that sounded very much like: "That's what you think."

I stared at my best friend. "Since when are you a Seer? Look, the chances of me dating Malfoy are about as high as the chances of Albus suddenly going out with Michelle Davies. And that's not likely to happen any time soon."

Luckily, Isobel decided to drop the subject, and instead mentioned something about how much homework Professor Frobisher gave us in Charms. It always feels like we get twice as much homework in Charms as in any other class. Not that we have a problem with doing it (actually, it's my second favourite class), it just takes forever. And with our O.W.L.s coming up, the workload is even heavier.

"And we have that essay from Professor Brocklehurst on defensive spells, and I haven't finished my Runes translation either…so what homework do you have left, Rose?"

I chuckled. "None, actually. I only said that to get away from Stephanie."

"I don't blame you. It's bad enough sharing a dorm and almost all our classes with her, does she have to come interrupting us at mealtimes too? She's got her group of friends and we've got ours."

Isobel was right about that. Stephanie and Michelle were generally to be seen in the company of a few giggly fourth years, whereas Isobel and I had formed a quartet with Lorcan Scamander and Simon Boot. The four of us spent all our free time together—except during Quidditch practices and matches. Lorcan was the Ravenclaw Seeker, and Simon was the Keeper, but Is was nearly as hopeless at flying as I was. Although, as I always point out every time the subject comes up, she at least managed to keep her balance on the broom. The fact that she only went up two feet before landing and insisting that she would never mount a broom again is of no consequence.

We reached the foot of Ravenclaw Tower, where I answered the question and we headed inside. I went up the stairs to my dorm to get my book, and settled down in front of the fire for a cosy evening of reading.

* * *

Lying in bed later on, I looked out of my window at the moon, which shone brightly over the grounds. I thought back to my earlier conversation with Isobel. Though I hadn't admitted it to her, I was feeling jittery. In two days' time, I would be pretending to date Malfoy. I really didn't know how it was going to work out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Finally, it's the awkward date you've all been waiting for. I hope it doesn't come across as too boring of terrible.**

* * *

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright and clear. At least, I assume it did, because that was what the sky looked like when Isobel woke me up. As I mentioned before, I'm not a morning person.

"Rose, come on, this is the third time I've woken you. If you don't get up now, I'm calling your cousin Molly to come help!"

Molly may have been a Ravenclaw, but that didn't change the fact that we were all positive that she was actually Uncle George's daughter. She was absolutely diabolic when it came to thinking up pranks—and, coincidentally, ways to get reluctant people out of bed.

"Don't be mean," I muttered into my pillow. It sort of came out as "duubemen", but Isobel understood me anyway.

"Well, get up, then!"

Groaning inwardly, I dragged myself out of the four-poster and pulled on my robes. I was about to head down the stair to the common room when Isobel stopped me.

"Rose, you can't go downstairs looking like that."

"Like what?"

"Your hair in a ponytail, your robes just plain, your face tired…"

"What's wrong with putting my hair in a ponytail?"

Isobel looked at me as if I was five.

"Rosie dearest, you're going to Hogsmeade on a date in about an hour. Remember?"

"Don't call me that," I responded automatically. "And why do I have to dress up for a date with Malfoy?"

Isobel sighed. "I'm not saying dress up, I'm just saying at least look as if you made some effort. If you're going to act, you might as well do it properly."

I gave her a suspicious glance, but her face was the picture of innocence—which, now I come to think of it, should have made me even more suspicious then usual. But I wasn't properly awake, so it's not really my fault.

"Fine, I'll do my hair."

"Can I do it?"

"If you must."

I headed down to breakfast twenty minutes later with half my hair twisted up in a bun and the rest hanging loose below it. I have to admit, it looked quite nice. And Isobel made me wear a necklace, too.

"I don't get why I have to," I muttered as she clasped it around my neck.

Isobel sighed.

"Because it looks nice, Rose. I've only said so about ten times," she muttered under her breath. I pretended not to hear her.

After we'd finished eating, we went back up to Ravenclaw Tower to get our cloaks and scarves, and then went back down to the Entrance Hall.

"So where are you meeting Malfoy?" Isobel asked, as we descended the marble staircase.

"Er, he said yesterday in Potions that he'd meet me at the Three Broomsticks at eleven," I responded.

"At least he didn't say Madam Puddifoot's," Isobel said, nudging me in the side. I frowned at her, but didn't respond as we got in line for the caretaker, Filch (a nephew of the one in my parents' time, and just as unpleasant as all the stories Mum and Dad told about the old one), to check us off on the list of people allowed into Hogsmeade. After he'd cleared us, we went down the steps outside and made our way towards the front gates, following the flow.

It was slightly chilly, which wasn't unexpected for early November. The wind blew like knives, even through all the layers of clothing we were wearing.

"Where shall we go first?" I asked, as we entered the village.

"Honeydukes?" Isobel suggested. I nodded, and the two of us rambled along the main street until we reached the sweet shop.

"Oooh, look!" Isobel grabbed my arm and pointed. "They've got the new Dragonbreath humbugs! You suck them, and then you blow out, and fire comes out of your mouth, and it changes colour every five minutes, and…" Isobel went off into a long stream of chatter about the newly invented sweets. I blocked her out almost automatically—Isobel and sweets is like Mum and books. She just never stops talking once she gets going. Instead of listening, I wandered over to the chocolate shelf. That's always been one of my weaknesses. Say 'chocolate' and I'll do almost anything—within reason, of course.

Half an hour later, Isobel looked at her watch and said, "It's nearly eleven, Rose, you should probably go."

We'd been in Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for the past fifteen minutes, enjoying the fact that they were celebrating their ten year anniversary and were selling everything at half-price.

"Yeah, I probably should," I agreed. "See you later, Fred," I added, nodding to my cousin, who was standing at the counter. He's been manager of the Hogsmeade branch for the past two years, ever since he left Hogwarts.

Isobel and I left the warmth of the shop and headed down the main road, heads bent double against the cold wind. Isobel left me at the door, saying that she had arranged to go visit her older sister, Miranda, who worked at Gladrags Wizarding Wear.

I pushed open the door. Walking inside, I made my way over to the bar and ordered a Butterbeer, and then looked around to see if Malfoy was here yet. He wasn't. Spotting an empty table in the corner, I wound through the tables and sat down to wait.

I looked down at my watch. It was already twenty past. I drummed my fingers on the table, wondering where on earth Malfoy was. Not that I was looking forward to him arriving or anything, but I didn't want to have to go back to the castle and face Stephanie when she finds out he didn't turn up. If he doesn't turn up, that is. Sighing, I got up to go get another Butterbeer. As I pulled my purse out of my pocket, the door of the pub opened, bringing a blast of cold air into the room. I turned to see who it was.

Well, finally. He's only half an hour late.

Malfoy came up behind me as I turned to go sit back down. "Hi, Weasley," he said. "One Butterbeer, please," he added to the barmaid.

"Hi," I replied, not exactly enthusiastically.

When he'd paid for his Butterbeer, he led the way to an empty table by the window. "Sorry I'm late," he said as we sat down. "I would have been on time, but Andrew wanted to go into Quality Quidditch Supplies to get some new gloves, and then we saw the ad for the new Firebolt 200, and kind of got distracted…"

"The Firebolt 200?" I asked. "I didn't know that was out yet."

"It just came out last week." He gave me a bit of an odd look. "I didn't know you knew anything about brooms."

"Comes with being a Weasley," I sighed, taking a sip of my drink. "It's rather difficult to not know anything about brooms or Quidditch when you live with my family."

Malfoy laughed. "Yeah, I guess that comes with the bright red hair and temper."

We sat there silently for a bit.

"So, er, what are you doing this afternoon?" I said at last, in an attempt to break the silence.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

We both chuckled.

"Well, I'm meant to be meeting Joshua at Dervish and Banges at twelve," he said. "You're welcome to come along if you like."

"Maybe. I need a new quill, so I might stop by Scrivenshaft's."

"Okay."

We sat there for a while longer, finishing our drinks. Merlin, this was awkward. How much longer before I could leave?

At last Malfoy got up.

"I've got to go," he said, standing around awkwardly. "Er, do you want to come, or…" He sort of trailed off, apparently just as unsure of what to do as I was.

I shrugged. "Um, I think have to go find my friend Isobel, she wanted to talk to me about something," I improvised.

He nodded. "All right."

We left the Three Broomsticks and walked down the street, neither of us saying anything. Finally we reached Gladrags.

"I'm going in here," I said. "See you later, I guess."

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a shout from behind him.

"Scorpius!"

Malfoy looked over his shoulder.

"I'm coming, Jo," he called back.

Then he turned to me, bent down slightly, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Rose." He turned and left.

What? Well, that was completely unexpected.

I went into Gladrags, looking for Isobel. We went back up to the castle soon after.

It was only during dinner that evening that I suddenly realized: Malfoy hadn't called me Weasley when he said goodbye. He'd called me Rose.


End file.
